Dichotomies in Black and White

While watching this film, I did not really know what to make of it.  There’s elements of dark humor, there’s artistic cinematography, the interactions and dialogue between characters comes off as bizarre, and at times it has the atmosphere of a silent film (exaggerated gestures, facial expressions, and long lasting close-ups of characters just staring and not talking), while the sound aspects are part melodrama and part musical.  Williams describes Night of the Hunter as being surreal, a fable, noir, a monster movie, a musical, social commentary on the Great Depression, a comedy, a melodrama, and a Christmas film (30).

One thing that really appealed to me about this film was the framing of shots and the mise en scene.  There were many beautiful shots throughout the film, such as the children going down the river and when Willa is at the bottom of the lake in the car and her hair can be compared to the surrounding seaweed.  As Williams states, “background details […] always threaten to burst to the fore” (30).  Shots are framed in such a way that small details become the largest part of the picture with action occurring in the background, like when the children are going down the river and the camera focuses on the bunnies on the shore or the cobweb above them.

Another aspect that contributes to the visual style of Night of the Hunter is various forms of doubles and dichotomies, whether through symmetry, reflections, shadows, or ideologies.  During the scene where the children arrive at their destination after going down the river, they come upon a house and barn, similar in size, which frame the shot.   The shoreline and water take up half of the horizontal space, reflecting the two buildings, which portrays symmetry on all sides in the shot.  This represents a possibility of stability for the children, away from the deep, menacing shadows and sharp, Expressionist angles that accompany Powell.  As for shadows, they are used very effectively throughout the film, either being softer, causing the viewers to focus their attention on specific characters, or sharper and reminiscent of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and German Expressionism in general.  The lighting and shadows are given depth and character through the angles and lines they create within the mise en scene.  I say that the shadows were like a character themselves because not only are they prominent throughout the film, but because sometimes it seems like they are lying to us.  For example, one of the first interactions that the children have with Powell begins with them initially seeing the dark and defined shadow of Powell and his hat being reflected on the bedroom wall.  When they look out the window and the viewer joins them in their view of Powell, we are looking down on him in the street standing well below the source of light that is supposedly casting a heavily defined shadow on the second floor.  This not only portrays his looming presence and power, but makes the viewer question the reality of light and shadows, along with good and evil, right and wrong, hate and love.  Are the dichotomies and dominant ideologies presented in the film to be trusted at face value?  This doubling is also shown through reflections, with the prominent example being the scene on Willa and Powell’s wedding night after he rejects her sexually under the guise of religion.  She is in a nightgown/lingerie and looks at herself as Powell preaches that women are solely meant for children and not anything lustful.  She expresses a desire to “be what Harry wants [her] to be” and almost becomes zombie like in her devotion and dismissal of her autonomy.  Willa receives a large amount of pressure from those around her to be with a man, with this misogynistic beliefs stemming from a society that heavily criticized women who were single, working mothers.

The surrealism of the dialogue, plot, and overall atmosphere of Night of the Hunter demonstrates how bizarre it is to think of complex social issues as strictly black and white.  The sharp angles and contrast between shadows and light add to the idea that ideas presented as ideologically black and white aren’t that simple, and may only be considered ‘right’ because of what has been presented within hegemonic social structures that doesn’t simply reveal what’s underneath and the actual truth.